West Carroll 70, Aurora Christian 51

BYRON -- Even with a disastrous start, Aurora Christian was very much alive late in the third quarter against West Carroll.

The Eagles had clawed back from the Thunder scoring 17 of the first 19 points in the Class 2A Byron boys basketball sectional semifinal Thursday night.

The difference was two possessions, however, that completely altered the complexion of the game.

Aurora Christian had a good look for a 3-pointer that would have cut its game-long deficit to 6 points.

The shot misfired, though, and Drew Gallentine did not.

The West Carroll guard drained a 3-pointer on the ensuing Thunder possession, and Aurora Christian would never come within single digits again in dropping the contest 70-51.

"Daniel Barnes had a wide open 3-pointer," Aurora Christian coach Don Davidson said. "We could have cut the lead to six, but they scored the final (5) points of the quarter. Our kids came back with their heads on the ground. It really hurt our morale."

West Carroll (21-6) advanced to the sectional final for the third straight year; Aurora Christian closed out the season at 18-11.

The schools' football programs met last fall in the playoffs, and Chris Anderson took a personal stake in the outcome of the game.

"They whooped us pretty good," West Carroll coach Josh Knuth said of their Class 3A football game, a 59-18 Eagles win.

Anderson, the athletic 6-foot-4 forward who also played quarterback for West Carroll, scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the opening half, and he collected 9 rebounds on the night to go along with 4 blocked shots.

"We didn't want to go out twice to Aurora Christian," Anderson said. "(But) we didn't need any added motivation because it's sectionals. Tonight we came out strong and looked to pound it in transition."

Jordan Roberts and Joe Redmond connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to bring Aurora Christian to within 19-12 after one, only to see West Carroll mount another run in the second.

But Redmond, who led Aurora Christian with 21 points in his final game, keyed a late second-quarter run that left the Eagles trailing 35-27 at the break.

"I thought we withstood their (first-half) rallies very well," Davidson said. "We were right there at halftime."

Anderson orchestrated another 9-2 quarter-opening run for West Carroll to start the third, only to see Redmond and T. J. McNelis, who scored all 10 of his points after the intermission, spearhead another Eagles' response.

Redmond had eight in the frame, using his quickness to beat the West Carroll defenders off the dribble.

"(Redmond) is a heck of a basketball player," Knuth said. "He scored 21 (points), but we contained everyone else. (Aurora Christian) fought until the bitter end."

Aurora Christian never came closer than 12 points in the final quarter.

Men's basketball

Aurora 89, MSOE 64:ŒThe Aurora University men's basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Northern Athletics Conference tournament with a 89-64 victory over Milwaukee School of Engineering Thursday night in AU's Thornton Gymnasium, where Aurora is now 88-10 since the 2000-2001 season.

The contest opened up looking like it was going to be a close ball game just as the previous two meetings were (AU win 70-63, MSOE win 88-82). The Spartans had a slight lead of 25-21 in the first 10 minutes of the game as Aurora's leading scorer, senior forward Larry Welton, spent most of the first half on the bench due to foul trouble.

The Spartans led at the break 48-33 behind the hot shooting hand of senior guard Doug Lambert who had 18 first half points.

The second half was much of the same story with the Spartans never letting them close the gap to less than 15 points. Leading the way for Aurora in the second half was senior forward Mike Leonard who had 12 second half points, finishing the game with 16 points.

The win pushes Aurora's record to 22-5, while the loss ends the Raiders' season and drops their final record to 17-10 overall.

The win advances Aurora to the 2008 Northern Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game on Saturday against Lakeland College at 2 p.m. in Thornton Gymnasium.

Mary Beth Nolan/mnolan@dailyherald.com

Aurora Christian's Marcus Barnes scoops up a shot in the third quarter of their sectional semifinal loss to West Carroll.